# Is "The Pirate" by Walter Scott a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Pirate by Walter Scott (Archibald Constable and Co., 1822) is identified by: First edition, three volumes (vii+322, 332, 346 pages), issued in Edinburgh on 24 December 1821 though dated 1822 on the title page, with half-titles and second half-titles present in all volumes and a printer's imprint at the foot of each volume's final page. The Edinburgh (Constable) issue of 24 December 1821 precedes the London (Hurst, Robinson) issue of 26 December 1821, though both are dated 1822 on the title page.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, three volumes (vii+322, 332, 346 pages), issued in Edinburgh on 24 December 1821 though dated 1822 on the title page, with half-titles and second half-titles present in all volumes and a printer's imprint at the foot of each volume's final page
- The true first state reads 'their' at the end of line 20 on page 17 of volume II; a corrected second state within the same first edition reads 'there' instead and adds a semicolon after 'Co' in the volume I title-page imprint
- Published anonymously as by 'the Author of Waverley.'
- Publisher imprint reads Archibald Constable and Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Walter Scott |
| Publisher | Archibald Constable and Co. |
| Year | 1822 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, three volumes (vii+322, 332, 346 pages), issued in Edinburgh on 24 December 1821 though dated 1822 on the title page, with… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, three volumes (vii+322, 332, 346 pages), issued in Edinburgh on 24 December 1821 though dated 1822 on the title page, with half-titles and second half-titles present in all volumes and a printer's imprint at the foot of each volume's final page. The true first state reads 'their' at the end of line 20 on page 17 of volume II; a corrected second state within the same first edition reads 'there' instead and adds a semicolon after 'Co' in the volume I title-page imprint. Published anonymously as by 'the Author of Waverley.'

## Is this the true first?
The Edinburgh (Constable) issue of 24 December 1821 precedes the London (Hurst, Robinson) issue of 26 December 1821, though both are dated 1822 on the title page.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A second edition issued later in 1822 lacks the half-titles present in the first-edition volumes.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Pirate* by Walter Scott a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-pirate
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.